Why have rule? - James Millar

Why have a rule? Wednesday, November 18, 2009

What‘s the point in having a rule if there‘s nobody to enforce it? This is the question I need answered as it pertains to the section on municipal elections in the Local Government Act.
As reported exhaustively in the Vancouver print media, there are several discrepancies on election expenses throughout the province. Many candidates are in clear violation of the Local Government Act while others appear - at least on the surface - to be trivial or honest mistakes.
Violation of the act can carry some stiff punishments ranging from a verbal reprimand to jail time. Forcing a new election is even a possibility.
The problem is that the province won‘t react unless there‘s a formal complaint made by an individual or group of citizens. This would obviously be a tremendous time and financial commitment for anyone wishing to pursue this.
Who‘s going to go to this extent?
A few have on the Lower Mainland and the
Island.
This would be like posting additional signage in school zones and if there wasn‘t someone to monitor this, a fine or driving suspension would never be issued. Many would respect the law but others would ignore the rules knowing they‘d never be held accountable.
There are extremely strict guidelines in place for federal and provincial elections. Some of the regulations seem a tad ridiculous but they‘re all in place to assure a fair election. Yet, here in B.C., things are loosey-goosey at the one level where politicians have the most
power - the local level. This needs to change immediately.
The entire Local Government Act should be reviewed.
When candidates are allowed to run for different positions in the same election, it‘s ridiculous. Perennial candidate Kevin Andrews ran for both mayor of Keremeos and the Okanagan Skaha school board in the 2008 election. While Mr. Andrews certainly wasn‘t violating any rules and is certainly keen to be part of the process, a rule change is needed on this one.
It‘s also puzzling how an individual who doesn‘t own a home, piece of property or business in the community where he or she is seeking office is still allowed to run in that jurisdiction. Again, this needs to be examined.
(These are, of course, separate issues to the ones on election spending and declarations.)
To Premier Gordon Campbell‘s credit, his government is looking at some changes in the sections pertaining to elections in the Local Government Act. The problem is he hasn‘t
given any terms of reference and has yet to establish any funding.
With all that‘s gone on in the world over the past 18 months, this might not seem like a high priority but protecting democracy must be done at any price.
-James Miller, managing editor

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